HM Prison Kingston is a former Category B/C men's

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

, located in the Kingston area of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Prior to closure, the prison was operated by

Her Majesty's Prison Service His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wale ...

. In 2020, work began to convert the site to residential use.

History

Kingston Prison was originally built in 1877 as a Victorian radial design prison. Kingston has had a varied history. At one point the building was used for a boys'

borstal A Borstal was a type of youth detention centre in the United Kingdom, several member states of the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland. In India, such a detention centre is known as a Borstal school. Borstals were run by HM Prison Service ...

, and then became a police station during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1965

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

for murder was abolished in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and, as a result, Kingston began exclusively to hold inmates serving

life sentences Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

. Kingston became the only prison in England and Wales to have a unit exclusively for elderly male prisoners serving life sentences. In April 2003 a report from

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons is the head of HM Inspectorate of Prisons and the senior inspector of prisons, young offender institutions and immigration service detention and removal centres in England and Wales. The current chief insp ...

stated that the elderly prisoner unit at Kingston provided unacceptable conditions for its inmates. The report detailed that movement in the unit was severely restricted, there was insufficient privacy and the rooms had too little natural light, poor ventilation and in some cases no power points. Soon afterwards Kingston was redesignated as a more general category B and C prison, the elderly prisoner unit moving to

HMP Norwich HM Prison Norwich is a Category B/C multi-functional prison for adult and juvenile males, located on Mousehold Heath in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History Norwich opened as a prison in 18 ...

. From April 2012 Kingston became mainly a Category C prison, holding a high percentage of inmates serving life sentences. On 10 January 2013 it was announced that Kingston Prison would close "in the next few months", as part of a wider prisons closure programme established by the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

. The prison formally closed on 28 March 2013. The former prison site was put up for sale, though there was a campaign to retain the site for use by the local community. On 24 December 2014 it was announced that Kingston Prison along with

Dorchester Prison HM Prison Dorchester was a local men's prison, located in Dorchester in Dorset, England. The prison was operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service, and closed in January 2014. History Erected during the 19th century, the prison buildings are a ...

Gloucester Prison HM Prison Gloucester was a Category B men's prison located in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. It was originally opened in 1792, on the site of Gloucester Castle whose keep had been used as a prison. The prison was operated by Her Majesty' ...

and Shepton Mallet Prison had been sold to City and Country. For a time, the complex was used to host airsoft games. After a community consultation on the development of the site, the former prison is being converted into 267 homes.

Notable former inmates

Archibald Hall Archibald Thomson Hall, also known as Roy Fontaine (17 June 1924 – 16 September 2002) was a Scottish serial killer and thief. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he became known as the Killer Butler or the Monster Butler after committing crimes while ...

* Anthony Sawoniuk * The

M25 Three The M25 Three were Raphael Rowe, Michael George Davis, and Randolph Egbert Johnson, who were jailed for life at the Old Bailey in March 1990 after being convicted for murder and burglary. The name was taken from the location of the crimes, whic ...

Leslie Grantham Leslie Michael Grantham (30 April 1947 – 15 June 2018) was an English actor, best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He was a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a West Germ ...

References

External links

Ministry of Justice pages on Kingston
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingston (Hm Prison) Buildings and structures in Portsmouth Prisons in Hampshire 1877 establishments in England 2013 disestablishments in England Men's prisons Defunct prisons in England